Michael Matthews triumphed in an uphill sprint finish in Rodez ©Getty Images

Australia’s Michael Matthews triumphed in an uphill sprint finish on stage 14 of the Tour de France as Britain’s Chris Froome regained the overall race lead in Rodez.

The stage threatened to be one for a breakaway group, with France’s Thomas Voeckler and Maxime Bouet, The Netherlands’ Timo Roosen, Switzerland’s Reto Hollenstein and Belgium’s Thomas De Gendt featuring in a dangerous early move.

They were kept close by the peloton during the 181 kilometre route from Blagnac, with the advantage remaining at around two minutes for the majority of the day.

Voeckler and De Gendt moved clear of their breakaway companions with around 40km to go, with the latter then going solo into the closing 30km of racing.

The Belgian was unable to hold off the peloton, with teams eager to bring the race together for an uphill sprint finish.

When De Gendt was passed in the closing kilometres, a counter attack was briefly launched and proved unsuccessful.

Philippe Gilbert launched the uphill sprint finish, but his fellow Belgian Greg Van Avermaet passed him in the closing metres.

The Olympic champion would be denied by Matthews, with the Team Sunweb rider claiming victory in 4 hours, 21min, 56sec.

“It went as expected, we rode all day,” said Matthews.

“We kept the breakaway so close, I knew I'd have very few team mates at the end, but still I had two to three guys with me in the final.

“It's a sweet day.

“Last time here, two years ago, I had four broken ribs.

“It was the stage I targeted before I crashed.

“To come back and win is a dream come true.”

Fabio Aru lost the yellow jersey after crucially missing a late split in the peloton ©Getty Images
Fabio Aru lost the yellow jersey after crucially missing a late split in the peloton ©Getty Images

A split in the peloton, caused by the sprint finish, proved costly for yellow jersey leader Fabio Aru.

The Italian national champion crucially missed the split, ultimately ending 24sec down on general classification rivals Froome, Colombia’s Rigoberto Uran and Ireland’s Dan Martin.

Froome moved back into the yellow jersey, having lost it two stages ago, with the Team Sky rider 18 seconds clear of Aru.

France’s Romain Bardet is five seconds further back, with Uran just 29 seconds off the race lead in fourth.

The International Cycling Union WorldTour race will continue tomorrow with a 189km stage from Laissac-Sévérac l'Église to Le Puy-en-Velay.